The Perfect Pairing

short stories, Films, Articles, Poetry, Music & Other Media to compliment Literature

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Traditionally, a reading log consists of a table or chart on which dates, titles, pages, and minutes spent reading are recorded. Parents are often required to sign or initial these charts as further proof that a student has read a book. Kids are smart, and they know you will sign just about anything at 7 A.M. when everyone is rushing to get out the door on time.

"Wait, mom! I need you to sign this!""What is it?""My reading log."Mom quickly looks reading log over while simultaneously checking the time, "Did you read this?""Yes."Mom is pretty sure that statement is a work of fiction but signs anyway because it's now 7:05.

I imagine the scene when this reading log is submitted to her teacher going something like this:​

In my experience, the sole purpose of a reading log is to hold students accountable for their reading. I know that reading logs do not accomplish this goal because I have been that mom signing the falsified records at 7:05 on a Friday morning. I have also been that mom trying to help someone remodel a cereal box for a book that I can tell someone didn't finish reading, but now this project is due tomorrow, and there's no time for that. I am pretty sure we spent more time on the "project" than my daughter actually spent reading the book.

Trying to read an entire book and complete a book report the night before it's due turns reading into a negative experience that most likely involves both parents and students feeling frustrated and upset. We've already established that assigning reading logs to make sure they aren't waiting until the last minute to start their books doesn't help, tacking on a book report/project to the end of that farce only makes things worse.

Why do I even need a method of accountability?

This year I felt overwhelmed when I completed a class profile and learned that about 60-70% of my class was reading at a 3rd-grade level or below. I was overwhelmed because I was supposed to be teaching with complex middle school texts to students who were able to read and understand "Nate the Great."

I communicated with my students and their parents that they wouldn't be getting homework packets in my class and that I expected that they would read books (of their choosing) outside of class for homework. I am pretty sure what they heard was, "You don't have to do homework in this class." They didn't read.

I gave a big speech comparing reading to learning to play an instrument in band, or playing basketball-many of my students are having these new experiences now that they are middle schoolers. I asked them to think about how much better they have gotten at playing instruments or sports this year. Then I asked them to think about how much they spent practicing those activities compared to how much time they had spent reading. I was feeling terrible about what I was going to announce next, and I needed them to understand why I had decided to make a significant change in the homework policy.

In the second quarter of the year, I set individual point goals for students based on their reading level and required students to take quizzes on books that they read. That was only slightly more effective, and since it also was a decision that went against everything that I believe in about encouraging readers, I didn't continue with point goals in the third quarter. We had used the "reading log" activities that I listed above during our reading of class novels, and I decided that these tasks would be excellent for homework reading too.

I thought that the invention of online book quizzes would finally solve the "How do you know that they are reading?" problem. I noticed the same issues with this method; procrastination and a lack of motivation. If you only hold students accountable for reading at the end of their book, they may just read the night before their assignment is due. Nothing inspires a reluctant reader to love books like trying to power through a text at the last minute under the looming pressure cloud of passing a quiz. What's worse is now that they have waited until the last minute and are attempting to pass a quiz on a book they only partially read, they're most likely going to fail. Failing makes kids feel bad about themselves as readers. I know this for a fact and have experienced it with students who do actually read their books and it is heartbreaking. After receiving a message from a student that said she was not going to be able to meet her reading goal because she was stupid, I decided I needed to find another way.

What I have found to be a much better alternative is to give students time in class for independent reading and have them complete daily/weekly tasks that show me not only that they are reading a book, but also what they thought about it.

When thinking about what kind of weekly tasks to assign, my primary goal was to come up with an assignment that could be completed quickly. I didn't want my students spending more time completing an assignment than they were reading their books. I also wanted an assignment that would be shared and hopefully, start conversations and generate interest in the books that students were reading.

I like students to have a choice in how they respond to text, so I put together some different options: the Six Word Memoir (focus on character/conflict), Sketch Quotes (focus on determining importance), Headlines (focus on plot summary), or Word Clouds (focus on character/mood).

The 6 Word Memoir: 6 Word Memoirs are a great way to summarize a character's journey through the plot of a story. Six words take up so little space but can convey such big ideas.

Sketch Quotes: While just copying text from a book may seem like a relatively basic task, and it is, the evidence of thinking and learning will show in what text a student selected to copy, and in their reflections about that text.

Headlines: The goal of a quality newspaper headline is to get someone to want to read more, so it makes perfect sense to add this to your reading log arsenal. While writing headlines may seem like a simple task because they are so short, it requires a fair amount of thoughtfulness because of the limitations in length.

Word Clouds: Word clouds are a great option when you want students to focus on characterization, vocabulary, or mood. Students generate word lists as they are reading or listening to a text and then create character clouds, mood clouds, or vocabulary clouds from the words they selected from the text.

​It is impossible to wait until the last minute to complete a book report when students are submitting a compilation of their "reading logs."

​Classroom Examples of Products Created When I First Began Testing Out Alternatives Using Whole Class Novels:

Lessons and resources that I have developed in response to this problem:

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I am an English teacher, Curriculum Designer, and Instructional Coach that is passionate about literature. ​My partner is a former Chef turned Sommelier. It is from him I have learned that a good wine can become an unforgettable experience when paired with the right food, in the right setting. It was during one such experience when I realized that what I do with texts, isn't all that different from his work.

I read books and build a menu around a theme to create an unforgettable literary experience.

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​In each post I will offer a review of a young adult novel and suggestions for text pairings. These posts will often include links to digital resources for teaching the content referenced in the post, as well as digital lessons (I use Google Docs) which you can download for free. Subscribe to my blog so that you can get an email notification when a new book is highlighted.